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It was Time. Having been over two years since the last Pi Phest, and finally settled into our new home, I decided it was time to gather the flock again. The first annual Pi Phest was in 1999 (see those photos here) and the second was in 2001 (see those photos here). While I am not the best photographer in the world (and my digital camera has been outdated by roughly five years), I have tossed these roughly edited photos online to share. Most of the people who showed up were either at the first Pi Phest or the second. Our new visitors were Ziggy the White-Cap' and Bentley the Blue Head. Ziggy is a picker, but it's clearly a habit she learned long time ago, in a previous home, and just can't break. She's an otherwise healthy, happy, well socialized bird who had a blast. Bentley was the elder of the gathering, and also the largest fella there, weighing in at roughly 250 grams. Emma and Ernie (siblings from the same parents, but one year apart, Emma being older) were less-than-thrilled to see each other, and greeted each other with a cacophany of noises which soon everyone joined in on. As far as we can tell, they each think the other is that nasty birdy they always see in the mirror! (Grin) Raku and Skye treated us to amazing displays of Two-Pi Peace. They preened each other and snuggled and Skye followed Raku everywhere. Carol and Hank had them DNA sexed to make sure they weren't going to have any mixed-Pi babies, as these two really adore each other. They are both males. Sibyl was a true sweetie and made little "come here, Baby, I love you" clucking noises at every single person who picked her up. Although the smallest of the bunch, she doesn't seem to know it. Meanwhile, the shy and reticent Miss Brea did very well at stepping up for anyone who asked, but much preferred to hide on Mom's shoulder when she could. You may click on any photo for a larger version in a new window. |
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Miss Queen Sibyl was the first to arrive. |
| She was quite delighted to climb up on my back and play Queen of the Mountain, while Ernie looked on. |  |
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She was also more than willing to rule from Jim's knee. Anywhere on a new person would suffice. |
| Here's Ziggy in all her glory. She doesn't look pretty, but she's quite charming. |  |
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Hank with Skye and Raku. (You'll see few photos where the two are more than a foot apart.) |
| Sweet Bentley snuggles up to Mom aka Primula. Prim wasn't sure how he would react to the gathering - he'd never seen so many people OR pi before! |  |
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Doesn't look too concerned, does he? Bentley was quite friendly and asked a few of us for scritches. |
| That's Miss Brea on your left, Raku and Skye in the foreground, and Sibyl hiding behind them on a different stand. |  |
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The only photo of ALL the pi! Ernie to your far left. Again Sibyl is sneaking around just behind his perch, on the floor there. Then Ziggy on the wooden playstand. Behind Ziggy you can see Bentley on Simeon (Bentley's Dad). Climbing Simeon's other side is Raku, with Skye not far behind (down in the crook of Simeon's hip). Then in front of him is Brea on a stand, and Emma on another stand in the foreground, completing the group, on your right. |
| With Bentley on one arm and Skye on the other hip, who could ask for more? Ziggy knows when to get out of the way ... (Grin) |  |
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Two Blue Pi. (Bentley's on your left, Skye on the right.) |
| Ernie's not too happy that older sis Emma has stolen his almonds ... |  |
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Raku is on your left, with Skye on the right making a bee-line for him. In between it's Brea at the top, Sibyl in the middle, and Ernie in the foreground. |
| Skye has almost caught Raku. Brea is hoping Mom (Melne) will pick her up. Ernie gets an almond of his own, but Emma still has the rest of the dish. |  |
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Meanwhile Sibyl has come over to say hi to me (Adrienne). |
| Bentley. So handsome. |  |
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Melne gives Brea her wish while wrangling Raku and Skye on the other hand. Emma visits Jackie (Sibyl's Mom) while Ernie looks on in front. |
| Jackie takes on Raku and Skye with Miss Emma still on her shoulder, brave woman that she is. |  |
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Simeon asked Bentley to share his perch with Ziggy and Bentley obliged. Bentley was quite good. |
| And he loved to let anyone give him scritches. |  |
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Emma shares a snuggly moment with Mom (Melne). |
| This stand was so successful at giving Raku a break from Skye that I sent it home with Carol and Hank. Skye could be close to Raku, but not constantly snuggling up to him. Raku seemed to appreciate the rest. |  |
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There's Raku and Skye on their stand, then Ernie in the foreground on the T. Melne has her girls - Emma on one shoulder and Brea on the other. I have Ziggy, and there's Bentley getting scritches again - this time from Carol. |
| Sibling rivalry. Can you tell which one is which? I'll give you a hint - Emma slouches ... |  |
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Yep, that's Emma on your left and Ernie on your right. |
| Brea visits with Carol, while it seems that someone has put Skye up with Raku finally. |  |
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Those of us who have had two pi just can't believe these two. |
| Clearly, they're best buddies. They're just so cute. |  |
What? You want more? OK! These are Hank's photos. He was across the room and it was such a gloomy day outside ... as a consequence a lot of them came out too dark. But these few are worth keeping, for sure! |
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Raku gets a good look at Ernie, but Ernie ain't quite as pleased. |
| This beautiful picture of Bentley is even more amazing in it's original size, but it's really really large. You can click on the regular photo for the not-quite-as-big-but-still-larger size. |  |
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Sibyl may have been cranky the next day, but she looks pretty happy on Mom, here. |
| Here's another gorgeous photo. This time it's Ernie who looks fabulous in this huge photo, but again - it's a big file. You can click on the regular photo for the not-quite-as-big-but-still-larger size. |  |
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Skye has his eye on Sibyl (in the foreground), while Raku has one eye on Brea (to your right). |
| Miss Emma looks so pleased with herself. I wonder what she got in to while we weren't looking ... |  |
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Thaaaat's right. It's those almonds of her brothers. Oh Emma ... ;] |
| The best photo of the bashful Miss Brea from the party. |  |
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Even with Brea on the other shoulder, Melne can't resist sniffing Emma during a snuggle. |
| Then again, who am I to argue? This photo is a bit dark, but it's hard to deny that Ernie and I were "caught in the act" ! |  |
Below are just a few of Simeon's photos. These were such high resolution that I cheated and cropped them down to Just The Birdies. You really do need to click/view the larger versions to get the myriad colorations. You can really see some spectacular color in these, and why we think pionus are so incredibly beautiful. (Yes, we're biased. Shush.) |
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| Skye and Raku |  |
That's all for now, folks. See you next time! Hopefully it won't be two years until we do this again! Click here to go back to the main Pionus page |
| Pi Phest 03 / last update: 11/11/03 all text and images copyright by DogBrain Enterprises and may not be used without express written permission. |  |